The Number 23

For the actual number, see 23 (number). For another film by a similar name, see 23 (film).

The Number 23
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joel Schumacher
Written by	Fernley Phillips
Produced by	Beau Tapia
Starring	Jim Carrey Virginia Madsen Logan Lerman Danny Huston
Cinematography	Matthew Libatique
Edited by	Mark Stevens
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Production companies	Contrafilm Firm Films
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date	February 23, 2007 (2007-02-23)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$77.6 million

The Number 23 is a 2007 American psychological thriller film written by Fernley Phillips and directed by Joel Schumacher. Starring Jim Carrey, the film was released in the United States on February 23, 2007. This is the second film to pair Schumacher and Carrey, the first being Batman Forever.

Carrey was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for his performance in the film, where he lost to Eddie Murphy for Norbit.

Plot

The plot involves an obsession with the 23 enigma, which is the idea that all incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23, or to some number connected to 23.

Walter Sparrow is an animal control officer married to Agatha; they have a son, Robin. At a bookstore, Agatha begins looking at a book called "The Number 23" written by Topsy Kretts. She later gives Walter the book as a birthday present.

Walter starts reading the book, noticing odd similarities between himself and the main character, a detective who refers to himself as "Fingerling". Walter begins to have dreams of murdering Agatha. Walter tried to warn her about the number being dangerous and how it was going to come after her. She told him he was crazy.

Walter soon comes to realize that he is Topsy Kretts, having written the book as a way to try and rid himself of the guilt he felt over murdering a woman named Laura Tollins. He was never caught for the crime, and a man named Kyle Flinch was accused and imprisoned for the murder instead. Fearing he will hurt his family, he leaves his home and begins living in a hotel.

Agatha finds Walter at the hotel, and tries to assure him that he is no longer the person he was when he wrote the book. He insists that he is a killer, accepting the fact that he murdered Tollins, and tells Agatha to leave before he kills her too. Agatha pushes a letter opener into Walter's hand, saying that if he is indeed a killer, he can easily kill again, and dares him to kill her. She tells him that she loves him. Walter tells her that she can't love him because no one can, mirroring an accusation made by Laura on the night of her murder. He leaves the hotel and runs into the street, where he nearly allows himself to be run over by a bus, but steps out of the way at the last minute when he realizes his son is watching. As he embraces his family, a voice-over by Walter tells the audience that he turned himself in to the police and is awaiting sentencing, having been told that the judge will likely go easy on him since he turned himself in. A funeral procession takes place in front of Tollins' grave, where it is implied her body has finally been laid to rest, as Flinch observes, finally a free man.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Walter Paul Sparrow / Detective Fingerling
  • Paul Butcher as Young Walter / Fingerling
• Virginia Madsen as Agatha Pink-Sparrow / Fabrizia
• Logan Lerman as Robin Sparrow
• Danny Huston as Isaac French / Dr. Miles Phoenix
• Rhona Mitra as Laura Tollins
• Bud Cort (uncredited) as Dr. Leary
• Chris Lajoie as Benton
• Mark Pellegrino as Kyle Flinch
• Lynn Collins as Isobel Lydia Hunt ("The Suicide Blonde") / Mrs. Dobkins / Young Fingerling's mother
• Michelle Arthur as Sybil
• Ed Lauter as Father Sebastian
• Corey Stoll as Sergeant Burns
• Tom Lenk as Bookstore clerk
• Bob Zmuda as Desk clerk

Reception

The film received a rating of 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and a consensus stating "Jim Carrey has been sharp in a number of non-comedic roles, but this lurid, overheated, and self-serious potboiler is not one of them. The Number 23 is clumsy, unengaging, and mostly confusing." Of the few critics who liked the film, Richard Roeper and critic George Pennachio of KABC-TV in Los Angeles stand out, as they gave the film a "2 thumbs up" rating on the television show Ebert & Roeper (Pennachio was standing in for Roger Ebert due to Ebert's illness).

However, Michael Phillips, filling in for Ebert on the Worst of 2007 show (aired January 12, 2008) put 23 at No. 7 in his list of the worst (Roeper did not include it in his list). Peter Travers (of Rolling Stone) declared the film the year's worst star vehicle on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007, while Colm Andrew of the Manx Independent said the film "delivers a rambling, confusing narrative with only a few stylistic elements thrown in".

For his performance, Carrey was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor at the 2008 Golden Raspberry Awards, but lost the "award" to Eddie Murphy for Norbit.

Box office

On its opening weekend, The Number 23 took in $14,602,867, coming in behind Ghost Rider's second weekend. After five weeks of release, the film grossed $35,193,167 at the domestic box office and $42,373,648 overseas, for a worldwide total of $77,566,815.

Home media

The film was released on Region 1 DVD on July 24, 2007; the release contains both the theatrical version and an extended version, which runs an additional four minutes. Special features include deleted scenes, such as a much more abstract alternate opening and an alternate ending that gives a few more details about Walter's prison sentence and hints at the possibility that the son could be subject to the same obsessions as his father. The disc also includes interviews with mathematicians, psychologists, and numerologists. The DVD shows the film over a set of 23 chapters. As of August 24, 2007, The Number 23 has generated $27.7 million from DVD rental grosses.

See also

• 23 enigma
• 23 (film)
• Retrograde amnesia

External links

• The Number 23 at IMDb
• The Number 23 at Box Office Mojo
• The Number 23 at Rotten Tomatoes
• The coincidental world of the number 23